Session 14
Game date June 25, 2011 Game notes 8 XP for last game. Game log October 23rd (cont.) * That night, after the battle, we all sleep and dream again. ** Adams is back in Boston trying to take pics of the mafia smuggling booze from Canada. He can't get a good shot, so he sacrifices a snake to send his mind into a cat. ** Mattheson knows that he can restore people with the right tools. He casts a spell to speak to native peoples in their own tongue. He creates something great using techniques unknown by modern peoples and wins praise. ** Xiangqi knows the Celestial Dragon is upset and coming for the village. He kills fish and casts a spell to turn the weather against the dragon. Inside the village is quiet and calm. ** Russel is deep in the African interior, following consistent rumors of a hidden tribe descended from Europeans. He kills termite mounds to gain control over a herd of elephants to ride over harsh terrain towards the village. * Morning dawns. The Yanomami get their gear ready and aid the expeditioners in breaking camp. (They are not unnaturally familiar with it, though.) * Maxwell goes to speak to Joan about the Yanomami and what their intentions are. She says that if they mean harm, they could have done it, and she thinks they mean to help us. He says it's odd that we've met two civilizations that anthropologists have never met that are interested in helping us. She points out that her father was the first white man to encounter many of these tribes. She also says that the Spanish had claimed to have met tall, pale tribes like the Yanomami. She also says that our cause is an important one -- "cause" was Max's words, as she points out when asked. He asks what they hope to gain. She says that they want to help us stop the Kamayura. He asks if they know what the Kamayura's end game was. She says their predictions are dire but not terribly specific. * He then goes off to speak to the Yanomami leader. She asks if he has any troubles, and Maxwell pours it on thick about how worried he was by the Kamayura. She also says that the elders will be able to tell us more about their plans when they arrive. * Meanwhile as Dr. Russel organizes the camp, he takes Luo aside to share his fears about the dream being a sign of further taint. They both reveal to each other that they learned spells in their dreams, and Dr. Russel mentions that now he thinks he knows whether those who left us learned theirs. * Luo sees little change in the auras of most. ** Dr. Dworkin, Dr. Bryce, Felginer, Mattheson, Longfellow, O'Douls, Masters, Jenner, and Raoulette have little taint to their auras still. Luo still sees no influence on his own aura. ** Adams & Dr. Russel are in the middle. ** Dr. Meyer & his assts. & Joan are almost completely surrounded by filaments of darkness. * Luo shares this info with Dr. Russel and they both worry about how they have no choice but to proceed forward and decide to keep an eye out for spellcasting. * As we travel, we notice that we're bothered by insects again. (The chewable roots are still as "effective" as ever.) The Yanomami are bothered too but to less of an extent than we are. ** Maxwell asks about the bugs, pointing out that the Kamayura "almost magically" repelled them. She mentions that they do have ways, but they are time consuming and strenuous. She also says that she thinks the insects are interested in us as novel food. They have an application that they can apply made from a particular kind of riverside mud mixed with urine. Don't get it in your eyes and mouth, and it can flake off, but it helps. ** Maxwell also looks at the statues/medallions again and sees the strange eye-twisting effect as if the carvings are trying to depict something that could not and should not exist. * Travel with them quickly becomes routine. Adams and Luo discretely dispose of their talismans. Most people aren't wearing them openly. Joan keeps her somewhere on her person and plays with it at night. Dr. Russel ditches his in his pack on the sled with the others he'd been collecting. * The Yanomami tell us that their village is very close, and we should be there tomorrow. (It's been a week's journey from where we were to their village.) ** Luo notices that Gilmore is still giving Mattheson and Adams the hairy eye and acting with paranoia towards his belongings. He also goes off on his own every once in a while. ** We do body & mind checks. Russel is fatigued traveling for most of the week due to a lack of sleep. Luo is feverish. This persists to when we make it to the village of the Yanomami. October 30th * The village is kind of large with 300 inhabitants. They have agriculture and a canal where they can trap fish in nets. There's a turtle pond too. It's well defended. The leaders and warrior class are all female. There are a number of children running around. The men are mostly engaged in craftwork, making bows & spears, cooking, working the fields with the older children and elderly, etc. ** There is also a big pink idol in the middle of the village. It looks sort of like a tree- bird-cat or a flower-pig-bat. There's skin, bark, leaves, fur, feathers, beaks, and teeth. Its is roughly quadrupedal. * A wizened woman approaches the group in general and addresses Joan. She speaks a language we don't understand, but the leader of the Yanomami warrior party translates. ** She welcomes us to their village. Her warriors say we've been through some troublesome times. They invite us to stay here and recuperate to get ready since we have much to do ahead of us. (The rains are coming soon.) We will have a feast tonight. ** Joan looks around first and then speaks back, thanking them for their offers and agreeing to their hospitality, though she agrees that our time is urgent. * Somehow, there's some discussion of where we are with the guides. We are east/ south of the Xingu River and west of the Araguaia River. We'll probably head north. * Anyway, what we're doing in the village: * Dr. Russel wants to find out about these people. Thomas wants to tag along. He approaches the leader of the people that led us here. ** He asks about how their matriarchy affects how they get along with the other tribes. She says that they do not speak with many tribes in the area who worship the dark gods. ** She says that those who are "enlightened" and follow the Earth Goddess are led by women. There aren't many tribes that share roles, but here men can advise their women (in private), but they are led by the matron here. ** She also points in the direction of the matron if we want to learn more about the Earth Goddess. She'll have to see if the matron has time for us. * After about half and hour, she returns and says that she'd be happy to speak with us for a short time. She invites our perspective. She leads us to a tent. When the two of us enter the hut, we see the matron, a few other older members of the tribe, and Joan as well. ** After being greeted, she tells us that much must be discussed. She has been talking with Joan, who has had many interesting things to say about the current situation. ** Joan looks calm and somewhat satisfied and somewhat anxious. ** Their goddess is named Phthashen, and she'd be willing to discuss her. She is the source of life and safety in this world. She protects, she provides shelter and sustenance. Knowledge. ** There has always been the striving of the dark god to consume and overtake the worlds, and it has been the role of Phthashen to restrict his ambitions. ** They say that ambition calls to ambition and power to power. Those without restraint see something compelling in that dark god. They believe in balance and the proper place in all things. ** They honor her bounty with the homes that they build and the harvest that they receive. They have festivals with dancing and singing and praise. In living their lives in the way that she dictates is proper. ** She asks that they live in balance and harmony with her creation and gifts, using all things for their purpose. ** To live in harmony, one must not expect or take more than can be given. Eat that which is proper and do not eat that which is not. Oppose the ambition that strips the land and that destroys and does not replenish. * She mentions that one of our party is sick, and she is regretful that he did not take up their protection, but they will help us all to rest and recuperate to prepare to struggle against the spread of the dark ones' followers. It has been most of a generation that changes were noticed, but for several tens of moons it has been much more noticeable that their icons have been traveling father distances. They have been spreading their own icons to strike a balance. * Dr. Russel asks about the stone city. It is their legend that their ancestors came from there. They also have a legend that conflict drove them from those cities. ** They did not encounter Colonel Fawcett. From what they have discussed with Joan, they think he may be involved with the dark god, helping in him in some way. Joan looks resigned in some way. ** Thomas asks if they are familiar with the casting of spells. He tries defining it as an unnatural phenomenon, and she replies that all things that happen are natural. He then asks if she knows the spell from his dreams. (He tries to say it but fails.) The matron recognizes it as a prayer to call upon the generosity of their goddess. There are certain practices that can help. A higher power respects sacrifice. She says that those who seek power should not take it without considering the cost. * Dr. Russel gives Mattheson a warning that a prayer is a supplication to a god and to beware the costs. He notes that those who wandered off into the jungle began casting spells first. Mattheson mostly brushes him off. * Meanwhile, Luo is feverish and being treated. He is being rubbed with a poultice and laid to rest. Also, a woman crushes something (a bug?) in a pestle and mutters words, and he feels better. * Later at the feast, there is a bonfire and much food. There's manioc porridge, fruit, plenty of fish, ants, and scorpions. Whole crocodiles rotisseries over the fire. There's a lot of dancing and singing. The men cook and serve and are dancing and singing. ** Luo attempts to use his aura sight, rolls 00, and spends the rest of the night entranced by the fire and the dancing. * During the height of the festivities, the warriors drag out the largest snake any of the rest of us has ever seen. It's nearly a foot in diameter and 20+ feet in length. It takes eight warriors to carry it as it struggles. The elder holds a loft a large knife and begins carving into the snake from its jaw down, spilling out its innards. ** She casts some sort of spell as the snake writhes in obvious agony. Some of its blood sizzles and hisses into the fire. All of us are taken to a strange place. We see a city plaza made of carved stone, surrounded by obelisks. There's a throng of people chanting together. There's a man in a white robe. He is standing and glowing in the plaza, arms wide and exhorting the crowd. It's night and there's an odd glow coming from the sky. We see conflict and violence and blood running across the plaza. There's fire and an earthquake. The city crumbles. A crack opens wide, spilling into the darkness of the earth. ** The man the robes was caucasian with brown hair and blue eyes. The man in the vision resembled the Fawcetts somehow. * When we come to our senses, most people were out cold, including the natives. Joan is a little pale and somewhat stunned. When she composes herself, she goes to speak with the elder of the village. * Mattheson tries to elicit Dr. Russel's help in casting a spell, and he refuses, saying that he believes that those who cast spells lose themselves. Thomas says, "Fine, I won't do it," and goes off to do it anyway after stealing some medical supplies to bandage up afterwards. ** Thomas manages to stab himself pretty badly but patches himself up a bit with his first aid training. However, the spell didn't work when he tried to cast it. * Meanwhile, Dr. Russel warns Luo of Mattheson's growing interest in spellcasting and suggests that we might not be able to trust him as much. Luo doesn't seem all that worried. ** Later Mattheson approaches Luo for healing. Every 10th word or so that Mattheson says is in Mandarin instead of English. Luo asks what he was trying to do, and is not all that surprised or concerned when he admits he was trying to cast a spell to be able to understand languages. He admonishes him for cutting so deeply. ** Dr. Russel and Maxwell Adams talk. Dr. Russel shares his worries about Mattheson, and Maxwell relates the time that Luo was pressured into using a spell himself. Dr. Russel asks that if he doesn't make it for Maxwell to publish his journal, and Maxwell asks the same. * After we finish chatting, Joan and the Matron have vanished. Dr. Russel looks for Neema to ask where Joan is, but she's... busy, as in getting busy. (Some of the other expedition members are availing themselves of the opportunity.) * It's late when Joan returns to camp. She looks tired. Dr. Russel waves her over and asks about the vision. It is the same city she had seen, and that was her brother Jack in the vision. The Yanomami elder says that he must be stopped before he unleashes death and destruction. She is disappointed to know that he might not be recoverable after all, and she fears that her father is gone. Dr. Russel offers sympathy and the hope that he might still be recoverable. October 31st * The Matron gathers us in the morning. She tells us that she prayed for a vision of what is to come, and that the visions are of a dark future. The vision shows a ritual by the worshippers of "the dark god." There is little time to stop their designs, and she does not know exactly what they intend but that it will consume without restraint or caution. If we are to fight this, we must do so quickly. There is the site of a city where they believe they came from many, many generations ago, where we may find clues on what to do next there in the ruins. Most of them will stay and guard the path to prevent his worshippers from following us. The rains come soon, and it is necessary that we move quickly. Neema and her warriors will accompany us to the ancient city. She bids us good luck in the shadow of the Goddess. ** Dr. Russel warns Neema that some of our expedition members have left and may be in service to "the dark god" and know our intended destination since it has been the place we've always sought. She says that we must then be extra vigilant. ** Maxwell consults someone as to where the plateau might be based on the maps we have. It's about 2-3 weeks / 60-70 miles north of here. There are several waterways that start there but no specific plateau. * Luo tries to find out whether Thomas' failed first spell will ever wear off. (Signs point to no.) * Maxwell also tries to talk to Joan about the vision and mining for info that it's her brother. He also expresses sympathy. He mentions that there's great power involved in this and asks how we will be involved in this fight. (She doesn't know.) ** He also asks about her father, and she says that he loved it very much. His view was also to never kill. He'd rather walk into a hail of arrows than fire back. Jack was even younger than she is now when he left with their father. He admired their father more than anyone else in the world and was raised to be in his image. He thrived on the attention. * Jungle travel happens once again. Nothing much happens for the first few days. * Except, Mattheson is trying again to cast spells. He asks for mentorship from Neema for his experiment with magic. She agrees to help. It requires a personal sacrifice, and his words are not quite correct. She has him repeat after her. She says that after the spell is complete, the energy of her sacrifice will reach out and form a bond with the people she wishes to speak to. * Luo and Maxwell notice Mattheson talking to the Yanomami tribe -- that is, the ones which can't speak English. Maxwell talks to Dr. Russel about it. * Luo checks with his aura sight and notices that Maxwell and Clayton are the only two, not counting himself, that haven't gotten slightly worse. Mattheson's spread of corruption is spreading slightly faster than that of others. Luo can't see much different between the two types of taints (if there is one). He decides to scrutinize Dr. Myers more closely; the taint seems pretty seamless. * Maxwell tries his own charm offensive to get Mattheson to open up about what he's done, and he pretty cheerfully confesses the whole thing. He's also pretty defensive about his decision -- I mean he gets to talk to people before he dies. * Luo tries to warn Mattheson again about the price of magic and of giving yourself over to the gods. He dismisses Luo's concerns, saying that the goddess seems nicer. * Dr. Russel eavesdrops on their conversations to try to learn the Yanomami's language. It seems to be a debased form of the language used in the spells/prayers. (Side note: That's an unnatural check, but he's hardened.) Dr. Russel is starting to get a very basic grammar and the ability to get basic concepts across. ** Based on his notes, there is some similarity and possible shared background to the chanting the Perman used to summon snakes and kill bats with fireworks. * Time for more health/sleep checks. Everyone else if fine, and Luo fails both. He is exhausted and somewhat delirious. He has a weeping sore on the lower abdomen. ** Mattheson and Adams make soul checks. Mattheson gets corrupted, and Adams resists. (He had picked up a talisman for the ceremony and failed to mention that he put it back. He gets rid of it now.) ** One of the Yanomami warriors heals Luo, and he must roll Soul. (First failed check.) * Another week goes by. More checks. Nobody fails, so no illness or corruption. ** Dr. Russel learns more of the Yanomami's language. He can start talking to them himself. He uses the knowledge to learn more about their people's way of living as an anthropologist would. ** There is a disturbed vibe amongst the Yanomami towards the end of the second week. They are starting to collect bags of snakes, frogs, bugs, and the like. Dr. Russel asks if we are at risk of another battle. They admit that they have gotten signs that the agents of the dark god and are worried about an upcoming battle. ** Dr. Russel spreads the warning and tells the camp to get ready to move on their own if need be. * For the next few days, tensions are high in the camp and amongst the Yanomami. November 16th * It's been raining (lightly but consistently) for several days now. There are fears that if we find a river, it might be too strong to cross. The Yanomami are insistent that the real rainy season hasn't begun yet. * We start to notice a few other expeditioners gathering animals: Jenner, Raoulette, Longfellow, Gilmore, Myers, Giles, Priestley, and Joan. Of those, only Joan and Priestly have gathered something that is not a reptile or amphibian. The Yanomami seem a little wary of Priestly as a result (but not Joan). ** Masters, O'Doul, Felginer, Dworkin, and the PCs are the only ones who aren't. * Mattheson asks the Yanomami what's going on and is told again about the signs of a coming attack. They offer to teach him a spell to make him strong in battle. He would rather hunt or set up traps. * That night, tensions are high and no one falls asleep. In Moore's absence, Giles takes over his slot on watch. Russel and Jenner would have been on first watch and let Masters and Myers take the midnight watch. * Around the middle of the night, there is a great yell from the perimeter of the camp and a rush inwards of a hail of arrows. Many of the arrows miss. Myers and a couple of the Yanomami get hit with arrows in the first volley. One of the Yanomami doesn't seem to notice the shot, but the other is wounded (like Myers). ** Luo rushes over to help Myers. Clayton gets his gun ready. Maxwell gets his camera. Thomas readies his flamethrower. All across camp, we hear squeals and wet nosies as animals are sacrificed, and there's a cacophony of muttering. Dr. Russel can't hear anything but some opening appeals to Phthashen. Luo picks out a few prayers to Zhathog too by Joan and Priestley. ** Second round: Earl and a few other members of the expedition get hit, and some go down hard. Some of the Yanomami fall as well. It's hard to really see the people rushing in, but there's something deeply creepy about them. Adams can see some inhuman features to them. Mattheson can see that everyone rushing into the camp is malformed; some have more joints than they should. Some have scaled skin or hard shells. One seems to have a tail; another has a grossly widened jaw filled with sharp teeth. One has sharp extensions where their mouth should be. ** Mattheson freaks the fuck out. ** Luo makes it to Myers who is hit with an arrow. Myers crushes a frog and starts muttering. ** Dr. Russel shoots one of the rushing creatures. (Other shots fire too.) ** The Yanomami fight back, howling and shrieking as they change texture. They take the brunt of the attack, but Masters wades in too. Jenner, Priestly, and Giles also wade in with machetes -- Priestly seems to be trying to grapple and he looks a bit off. ** Brad asks what we intend to do for the rest of the battle. Mattheson will FLAME ON, Russel will shoot, Luo and Anthony are doing first aid. ** O'Doul, Dworkin, Felginer, and Bryce are running for cover. ** Third round: Mattheson botches with his flamethrower and sprays fire around wildly. Maxwell throws himself in between Mattheson and the women, yelling for him to avoid shooting at the women. Luo now has burn victims to deal with. ** Fourth round: Two shots ring out and one bug head explodes. There is a shriek as a creature opens its maw and lashes out for the flamethrower with its tongue; Mattheson rushes forward and feed its liquid death. One of the incoming enemies explodes into a cloud of swarming, biting things. Myers has gotten up and has joined the fray. Joan has joined the fray and has opened up someone's spine with a pair of large, sharp claws (and has creepily reflecting eyes). ** Fifth round: Dr. Russel accidentally shoots Anthony in the back as he's standing from tending to one of the wounded (rolled a 99). The incoming enemy is having a poor time of it at the moment. ** Sixth round: Dr. Russel is rattled and misses. Mattheson gets hugged by a squelchy, beaked thing and in the panic as the fishy, salty smell gets in his nose, he dumps his entire load of fuel by pushing the wrong button (rolled a 99). He feels a sharp yet non-localized pain all over his body and is knocked insensible for four rounds. ** Seventh round: Russel squeezes off two shots (22 cherry for 2nd helping) into the creature that's about the nom on Mattheson. The fight now appears to be evenly matched. The enemy are concentrated on the Yanomami but are also turning on the expeditioners which are engaged with them. Of the 6 Yanomami that were with us, 2 went down immediately, but the other 4 are down under heavy assault. OTOH, there are over a dozen enemies down. ** There are still about a dozen attacking us, but once the Yanomami are down, they run and slink away into the jungle. Most of the expeditioners let them run, but Giles runs after. Dr. Russel provides some supporting fire for him and pegs one as he rushes in. ** All of the transformed expeditioners are human by the end. * Aftermath: ** The doctor has a huge bruise from the gunshot but is otherwise fine. ** The alien isolation of our situation forces an Isolation check for us all, which we take. ** Priestly starts raiding the traps that Mattheson set for animals and begins healing people, including the doctor who gets up and does his rounds. ** Healing efforts focus on the expeditioners before the Yanomami. The Yanomami are all dead. Closer inspection of Neema shows that she's drawn an arrow pointing North. ** Dr. Russel tries to get Masters to go with him to find where Giles went, but he points out that we heard scuffling, and if he hasn't come back, he probably won't. So, we decide to set up camp and wait for morning. * The next morning: ** Maxwell takes pictures of the deformed natives' bodies. ** We do find Giles. Mostly, anyway. He seems to have fought pretty well, but his jaw is missing, and one of his arms is stripped to the bone. ** Myers very badly tries to act nonchalant and secretive, but takes one of the green medallions and hides it. Luo confronts him, telling him to just take them since it's what he really wants. Category:Session Logs